


vivid dreams

by joyrdings



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Callum's a Nurse, Friends to Lovers, Hospitals, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:28:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyrdings/pseuds/joyrdings
Summary: Ben never believed that being shot would lead to finding the greatest thing in his life.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 14
Kudos: 54





	1. 1

There was an unimaginable pain that ran through Ben’s body, the type of pain to make a sane man, insane. The last few hours had been a complete blur - the last thing Ben could remember was Sonia Fowler leaning over his body before everything went dark. Ben was struggling to take in his surroundings - he was being hurried so quickly down the hospital corridors as the nurses and doctors tried to examine the wounds that he had suffered. He could faintly hear the paramedics list off a bunch of numbers and unknown words as they spoke hurriedly, the whole team aware that Ben had lost a large amount of blood. In his head, he could hear the sound of his sister screaming, the loud voice of his father bellowing through The Queen Victoria pub as he begged someone to save his sons life but worst of all, he could hear the sound of the gun that knocked Ben to the ground with a pain so awful he thought death would be the better option.

Ben attempted to look at anything he could - the nurses, the doctors, the white walls that made his eyes wince as the bed he was laid in rushed past them at lightning speed. He was doing everything he could to stay awake and not allow the darkness to take over. He had a daughter at home to think about who was blissfully unaware of the event that had taken place, a business plan for Jay that would set them up for the future and a new life, a new beginning. It was typical that Ben had only been back in Walford for a few days, and he had already been shot and ended up in hospital. It was as if God didn’t want him to have a happy, normal life. Pain and misery followed him around everywhere, and he started to wonder that maybe he didn’t belong in Walford anymore, no matter how much he wanted to be there. Ben tried not to think about all that, though, and he definitely tried not to think about the long, sharp needle that was being injected into his arm, he had no effort in his body to try and fight and pull away. He was aware that the nurses were only doing it to save his life.

Ben attempted to look around the room he had been placed in but there was a banging in his head that stopped him whenever he attempted to lift his head up. The ringing in his ears had made it almost impossible to understand anything that the nurses and doctors were saying, their mouths moving quickly and with urgency but hardly any sound coming out. Ben could feel the tears brimming at his eyes, threatening to spill over in fear of what was to come. Ben often believed that he deserved to die for some of the crimes that he had committed in his life but now that he was nearly on death doors, the thought sent a shudder down his spine. It wasn’t the first time that Ben had been in hospital; the place had become a familiar part of his life during his most rebellious moments — even getting to the point where he was on the first-name basis with some of the nurses — but it didn’t make the feeling of being there any better. There was still a sickly feeling in his stomach whenever he smelt the hospital, a smell he couldn’t describe but everyone knew what he meant. It was either that causing the sickly feeling or the bullet currently lodged in his stomach. 

Even though the sound of the doctors and nurses talking was quiet in his ears, it didn’t stop Ben from picking up on a certain voice. It stood out from the rest, full of concern and worry and Ben briefly met the older man's eyes, watching as he examined the bullet wound, his fingers soft and delicate, despite a layer of latex blocking the touch. 

“What happened?” 

Ben knew what had happened obviously, but he still didn’t know the long list of injuries that had spiralled from that one shot. It would have been his chance to find out, but Ben couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the mystery man who wore a frown so well, his eyes full of worry as they flickered from the doctor to Ben. Maybe it was the drugs that had been injected into Ben’s body to subside the pain or Ben truly was seeing an angel. Either way, he swore he fell in love for a brief moment. It was definitely the drugs. 

The man lent over Ben’s body slightly to grab the notes from the paramedic, his eyes scanning over the details that had been hurriedly written down as they drove from Walford to the local hospital. He recognised the name Mitchell, but he thought nothing of it - maybe it was just a common last name?

“Callum, did the surgery team say how long they were going to be?” 

Ben whispered Callum’s name to himself, a small smile on his face, despite the havoc that was going on around him. His vision was starting to go blurry as the drugs took over his body but Ben wanted to fight it so he could continue to look at Callum. There was something different about Callum, that was the first thing that Ben had noticed. All of the other nurses looked calm as they successfully worked on sorting Ben out for emergency surgery but Callum looked taken back, a look in his eye that was unreadable. Callum’s usual work involved stab wounds, mangled fingers, broken bones and teenagers being fools on their motorbikes but this, Callum hadn’t seen injuries like this since Afghanistan. 

Admittedly, the wound wasn’t half as bad as what Callum had seen when he was an Army Medic but it was enough to bring back certain memories that he had kept buried ever since he had quit and returned to the hospital. Callum was full of questions as he continued to examine Ben over while moving past the other nurses, not taking notice of the way that injured boy was looking at him when he was trying his hardest to make sure that Ben didn’t slip away in front of him. It was rare to see gunshot wounds in London, mostly stab wounds from postcode wars and silly teenagers making mistakes that ruined lives in the process. Blood didn’t phase him anymore, but there was something about seeing the blood stained white shirt dumped at the side of the bed that made Callum’s stomach churn. 

“Been at a wedding apparently, shot in the middle of the party,” one of the nurses said as they stood by Callum and watched him prepare another needle of stronger drugs to help relax the injured, younger boy who was still screaming in pain every time someone’s hand touched the wound.

Callum thought of Whitney, it was her wedding day today. “Do we know where he’s come from?” Callum looked over his shoulder at Ben, the younger boy, now in a daze and unaware of everything that was going on around him. Callum was pretty adamant that he would survive this. The surgery team had given at ETA of five minutes, and it wouldn’t take much longer for them to rush Ben up to surgery to clean up the damage that had been caused. 

“Walford.” Was the simple answer that Callum’s colleague gave before he took the needle carefully from Callum’s hand and moved over to administer it to Ben.

The feeling of dread returned to Callum’s stomach as he looked around the room, panic rising inside of him as he wondered about the safety of his friends and family. He should have been at the wedding but with staff shortages at the hospital and no-one else available to cover the shift, Callum had no choice but to bail out on the wedding. Whitney had been upset understandably, she had looked forward to having her best friend by her side as she married the man that she loved, but she understood that Callum’s job came before anything. It was the only thing that managed to get him through his life - the thought of saving others when he had failed to do so during his time in the army, a pain that stayed with him every single night. He quickly glanced at the clock on the wall in the resus area, another hour until his break, another hour of torture as he wondered who else had been injured in the attack. 

Callum took another look at Ben, the younger boy now completely out of it as doctors spoke about his injuries and what they needed to do. He heard his name being mentioned, but Callum was too in his own head to even focus on anything else. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Ben - he must have been a relation of Phil. Callum took a few steps back, straight into the medicines trolley which caused a slight noise, only earning the attention of the doctor who had been calling his name before. 

“Can you go and speak with the family and update them on what’s going on? They are in the day room, I think it’s his dad and step-mum,” the doctor ordered, handing Callum a copy of Ben’s note which listed his injuries. 

Callum nodded once, deciding not to protest it. Phil had a right to know what was going on with his son but he wished that he wasn’t the one who had to deliver the news. It was a known fact in Walford that Phil Mitchell was a man that you didn’t mess with, you either did as he said or stayed out of his way for your own safety. Callum wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was frightened of the older Mitchell, stories about that family swirling around the square and shared over a pint of bitter whenever the locals wanted to gossip. When Callum had worked in the pub, he had heard multiple stories about Ben but they never fazed him, he believed it was just tittle-tattle and people wanting to scare others. By looking at Ben though, Callum didn’t think he looked scary. When the younger boy had first been rushed into resus, there was a boyish look upon his face. He was frightened, his eyes full of fear and Callum couldn’t blame him, he had just been shot without a care in the world. He didn’t look like the type of person that commited the crimes the locals spoke of. Maybe it was all a visage though and the devil was hidden deep within his features, a fiery rage inside of him stemmed from childhood issues and no love from his Father. Callum hated how much he was thinking about this. He didn’t know Ben Mitchell; he barely knew Phil. Callum came to the conclusion that he was just sensitive and overthinking things because of the scene in front of him. 

“Callum, the family,” the doctor said, clicking his fingers in front of Callum’s face. 

There was a part of him that didn’t want to leave Ben alone. He imagined that the younger boy would be frightened when he woke up and was in an unfamiliar place but Callum couldn’t one-to-one a patient, there were others that needed his care. 

Taking one last glance at Ben, Callum mentally prayed for him before leaving the resus ward and making his way down to the day room where he could picture Phil Mitchell stomping around with a red face and worry etched onto his features. Callum tried to ignore the tightening in his throat as he opened the door to the day room, half-expecting Phil to jump straight at his throat and demand to know what was going on. 

“Phil, Sharon…” Callum started, deciding that there was no need to use last names when they all knew each other. “Ben -“ 

“How’s my boy?” 

Callum took one step back and blinked a few times, still shocked at the loudness of Phil’s voice despite expecting it. There wasn’t anger in Phil’s eye, more worry than anything which shocked Callum slightly. From the stories that he had heard about Phil and Ben, he had gathered that there wasn’t much of a relationship there. Callum didn’t know the ins and outs of the Mitchell lifestyle though and what they got up inside their own four-walls, the family were clearly a bit of a mystery to outsiders. 

“Ben’s going down for surgery to try and stop the injuries to his lungs. He’s in a stable condition but obviously his situation isn’t ideal…”Callum trailed off as he looked down at the notes, the bulging, scary eyes of Phil Mitchell enough to put the fear into Callum.“He should be out of surgery within a few hours if things go right but I’m sure you are aware that there are risks with operations like this -. “ 

“Like what?” Sharon asked, her voice softer and kinder than Phil’s. When Callum looked up at the older woman, he smiled softly in response to her own. She knew Callum through Linda, the three of them often sharing a bottle of wine over some boring 1980s movie so she was aware of the look in his eyes at being around Phil. 

“Ben has serious internal injuries, but we have the best team on this side of London and they will do everything they can to make sure that Ben pulls through - “ 

“And from a nurse's perspective? Do you think that he will survive?”Phil interrupted, ignoring the sigh that came from Callum at being interrupted once again. 

Callum groaned before rubbing his hand across his face. “I can’t give you any false hope, Phil. Like I said, we have the best team and they will do everything they can to make sure that Ben gets through this. If you want to speak with the surgeons then I can put you in contact with them after the surgery where they will be able to describe the operation and what they’ve done in a lot more detail.” 

Phil nodded once before taking a few steps towards Callum, the younger boy cowering back in fear slightly. He was surprised though when Phil lightly smacked him on the arm, an elder gentleman way of saying thank you without having to show too much emotion. It was Sharon who gave him a proper hug, thanking Callum for coming in. He felt stupid being thanked for something that was his job - it was either he did it or he lost his pin number but he accepted the comments with grace and left the two of them to digest the information they had been given and wait patiently for an update about Ben. 

As Callum walked back towards the resus area, his heart dropped as he looked at the empty bay that Ben had been in. He turned around quickly towards another nurse and motioned towards the bay, wordlessly asking where Ben had gone. The other nurse told him that Ben had gone up for surgery, would be out in a few hours and sent to Elizabeth Ward where he would recover. Callum processed the information with a deep breath before turning towards the clock - no-one would question him if he had his break a bit earlier than he was supposed too. 

He headed down to the cafe, smiling at the domestic staff as he passed and grabbed himself a coffee. The hot drinks there weren’t the greatest but it would do. Ideally, Callum needed something a lot stronger in his systems after the sight that he had just seen but from what he gathered, his local would be closed for a short period of time. 

After casually strolling outside and finding a vacant bench in the more quieter area of the hospital grounds, Callum pulled out his phone and switched it on. Almost instantly, there were many pinging sounds that came from the device, missed phone calls and text messages finally coming through detailing what had happened in the pub. He knew that it wouldn’t be long before someone questioned him about Ben’s state of health, most of the individuals on the square knew that Callum worked on the resus ward but he couldn’t speak about patients outside of work, no matter how much he wanted to let Whitney know what was going on with Ben. 

His heart broke for her. What had meant to be the most perfect and special day of her life had been tainted in the worst way possible. Firstly, her mother hadn’t even arrived by the time Callum had left for work despite promising to be there, all Tiffany had done was moan about the bridesmaid dress and then there was the classic shooting that took over during the party. Callum sent Whitney a quick message, asking her if she was alright and that he would pop around to see her when his shift had finished if that’s what she wanted before closing his phone. He didn’t want to read the long message that Mick had sent him describing every detail of the attack, he had seen Ben’s name briefly in the message and it was too much for Callum to take in. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to escape what had happened at The Vic, it was his local and his home once upon a time but it didn’t mean that he had to think constantly about the incident when he was at work and had other patients to look after. 

Callum spent the rest of his break staring absently at the green grass, his mind trying to go everywhere other than towards the young man who had been rushed in earlier. No matter how hard he tried, Callum couldn’t erase the look in Ben’s eyes as he feared for his life, literally. He had been in resus for no more than half an hour, the medical team wanting to rush him off for an emergency CT scan and surgery as soon as they could which was understandable considering the injuries that Ben had sustained in the violent attack caused by Hunter Owen - Callum had to reread that text message around ten times before it finally processed inside of his head. 

It wasn’t the look in Ben’s eyes that had sent him into that much of a panic. He had seen fear, death and tears on every single shift that he had worked. It was the blood stained shirt that hung loosely from Ben’s body, the words that were spoken by the other doctors and nurses as they described what had happened to Ben - gunshot, bullet, shot. It reminded him too much of what he had been trying to avoid for the last four years of his life. When Callum had finally thought that he had something like this under control, it was cruel of it to come rushing back to him within less than an hour. The faces of the soldiers and citizens that he couldn’t save ran through his mind, every one of them with tear-stains down their cheeks and Callum’s heart broke, he would do anything to go back in time and save them. 

It was only when Callum heard someone sit down next to him that he finally snapped himself away from the thoughts that he was having. The doctor in charge of the unit that day handed Callum a fresh cup of coffee and a comforting smile. Doctor Brown had become a good friend of Callum’s both inside and out of work, they had both worked on the front line at separate times and had confided with each other about the troubles of War. 

“You did well there,” Doctor Brown said, a kind smile on his face. “I know it must have been hard, I’m sure I had the same thoughts as you though. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an injury caused by a gun.” 

Callum took a sip of his coffee, the caffeine not affecting him in ways he hoped. “I’m fine, honestly. I think it was just a bit of a shock when I first saw him but this is my job and it’s what I signed up to do. Ben will be okay though, won’t he?” 

Doctor Brown shrugged his shoulders; nobody knew what would happen during surgery. “I suspect that he will be fine. The damage to his lungs was awful but before I came out here, I heard that he was in surgery. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” 

“No, I won’t…” Callum sighed softly and placed his nearly empty cup of coffee in the bin besides him. He needed to get back inside and face the next few hours with as much confidence as possible. There was a time to cry, and that was when he got home, not in front of patients who were there expecting the best care that they could get. “I’m going to go back in now but thank you for the coffee and brief chat, it means a lot to know that somebody else understands.” 

“I’ll always understand and you know where I am if you need to chat about anything at all, work or personal.”


	2. 2

Ben opened his eyes with a long groan, his eyes struggling to focus on his surroundings as he glanced at the white walls. He lifted his head slightly before placing it back down on the pillow, his head thumping and causing a nasty pain. With his eyes, Ben had a quick look around and found that he was in a room by himself, it must have been serious. He suddenly became aware of the itchy sheets that were laid upon his skin, he lifted them slightly and let out another groan at the sight of the dressing on his stomach and chest.

“Mr. Mitchell, you’ve woken up.”

Ben looked to the door and saw a nurse, too cheery for Ben when he had just woken up from whatever that was. Ben raised one eyebrow as he looked at her blankly - he was confused, disorientated and desperately wanted to see his beautiful daughter. There was another face that was lingering around in his head though, a person he only briefly saw but must have had some impact for them to be one of Ben’s first thoughts after going through a complicated and long surgery.

“Yeah,” he replied with a flat tone, his eyes finally landing on the large flowers that were most likely from his mother, a mixture of Roses and Daisies. There was a card by the side of it, a home made one, with a drawing on the front of three people - himself, Lexi and Lola. His heart swelled as he looked at the drawing, the words ‘get well soon’ scruffily written along the top in what seemed to be a pink crayon from the set Lola had got Lexi for her previous birthday.

The nurse smiled and ignored the bluntness to Ben’s tone. She hurried to the bottom of the bed and grabbed his medical notes and began to write stuff down. Ben watched her and waited for her to say something, he at least wanted a hint at what was going on and what was going to happen from that point forward. The nurse was too busy getting her job done to notice the eyes burning into her but Ben took note of the small smile that was threatening to appear on her face. 

“Look,” Ben started but quickly stopped when he attempted to sit up, a pain rushing down his body that made him cry out. The nurse quickly rushed over and lifted the bed up so Ben was in a more comfortable position and wasn’t lying flat on his back. “Look, I’m sure you are a lovely person and a fantastic nurse but I don’t want you.”

The comment from Ben took the nurse by surprise, her eyes widening before she furrowed her eyebrows. Thankfully, she was used to difficult patients that wanted to make her job harder than it already was, especially Mitchells. She placed one hand on her hip as she looked up at the young boy, her attempts at remaining professional slipping slowly as she stared at Ben. “You are still confused which is understandable with the injuries that you have sustained over the last few days. Maybe you should try and get some more rest and let the medication properly wear off and then we can have a good chat. Visiting hours have finished for today but we can contact your family and let them know that you are awake and then you could have a chat with your father over the phone. He was very worried about you when he came in earlier.”

Ben couldn’t stand the way she spoke to him. The nurse was acting as if he was a child and had no clue what was going on but Ben wasn’t an idiot, he knew what he wanted and no gunshot wound was going to stop him from getting it. Sure, he understood that she was only doing her job but it didn’t stop him from feeling frustrated. If there was one thing that Ben hated in the world, it was not being in control. He could already feel his anger bubbling just from the thought of not being able to get into bed without any help and how it would take so many months of recovery before he could go back to his normal life. This wasn’t how he expected his time in Walford to go but he should have expected that something would go drastically wrong and stop him from playing out his plans that he had created.

“No,” Ben said, his jaw clenched as he tried to ignore the pain that was becoming unbearable. He needed some more painkillers but he didn’t want to risk being knocked out again, not when he had set himself a mission. “I want the nurse that was there when I first came in. He was tall, brown hair I think, pretty eyes.” Ben moved his hands around as if that would miraculously describe the handsome stranger down in the Resus ward.

The nurse chuckled softly as she placed the paperwork back in the holder at the bottom of the bed. “I’m sure there’s plenty of nurses in this building that are tall, have brown hair and pretty eyes. Please, get some rest, Mr. Mitchell.”

“Callum!” Ben suddenly shouted, remembering the name of the mystery man who had made his time in Resus slightly more bearable. “His name was Callum and he was in the place where I first came. Fuck, I don’t know - “

The nurse wouldn’t admit it but she was fairly impressed with Ben remembering the nurse. She knew of Callum, who didn’t, he was the nurse who walked around all of the wards with the brightest smile on his face and he had kindness in his heart like no other person. Callum was the type of nurse who would stay behind when one of his patients was entering the final few hours of their life. He would sit with them and hold their hand until they had peacefully passed on. The two of them often had their lunch breaks together and sat in the cafe as they discussed everything but work, both of them wanting to forget about the sights that they had seen for a full hour and focus on the positives in their life.

“Mr. Mitchell - “

“Ben.”

“Ben… you are currently on Elizabeth Ward and the nurse you are speaking about works in Resus. I’m sorry but unless you sustain another life-threatening injury then Nurse Highway won’t be able to look after you,” the nurse explained, her hand coming to rest on top of Ben’s. There was a part of her that felt sorry for Ben, she had seen frustration in many patients' eyes but there was something different about Ben. “I’m sure I can arrange something though. See if the gentleman will come and see you on his break but I can’t make any promises.”

Ben sighed and accepted it, although the thought of flinging himself down a set of stairs so he had to be sent to Resus did pass his mind but then he remembered that he could hardly sit up, let alone walk to the staircase.

“Thank you,” Ben said with a friendly smile. “Now, will you please get me some medication that will get rid of this God-awful pain that I am currently experiencing otherwise I think you best ring the morgue because I genuinely think I am dying.” The nurse rolled her eyes at Ben’s dramatics but agreed nevertheless. “Here, what do I call you?”

“Laura,” she answered, moving to check the MAR chart to see what medication had already been administered to Ben. “I looked after your father a few months ago when someone whacked him over the head. You are just as feisty as him, I’ll tell you that one for nothing.”

Ben chuckled; it was very rare that he was compared to his Father. “Bet you constantly get us Mitchell’s in and out of this hospital.”

“We usually get people who have been on the receiving end of a Mitchell’s fist.”

Ben tilted his head to the side; he couldn’t argue with that one. “Must be my father that is giving you patients. I only moved back to Walford last week and look how that turned out,” Ben started, pausing to wave his hands around the room he was now stuck in for God knows how long. “I reckon I might just move back to Newcastle, less chance of me getting shot there.”

“But what about the Nurse you’ve got the eyes for?” There was a teasing tone to Laura’s voice and a small giggle that only got louder when she spotted the blush on Ben’s cheeks. “Ah, so you do actually have a thing for him.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “I don’t even know the bloke, do I?” He scoffed, a pain shooting through him. “He could be a psychotic, evil murderer for all I know.”

Laura hummed in agreement but it didn’t stop her from teasing. She had learnt in the short five minutes she had been talking to Ben that he was a lot sweeter than he initially wanted to let on.

“Well, I know Nurse Highway and I’ll tell you now, he is an extremely lovely young man and most definitely not a psychotic, evil murderer.”

+++

Callum had spent the rest of his shift and night in a constant worry about Ben Mitchell. He had somehow managed to get through the rest of his patients, dealing with a child who had decided to go head first of their new swing set and an elderly patient who came in with a broken hip. The shifts always went quick, one minute it would be seven in the morning and the next moment, it would be seven at night but that one shift dragged. He was like a lost puppy as he constantly rang up to the surgical ward and asked for updates on Ben but he got the same answer every time - “he’s still in surgery, any updates and we will ring down and let you know.” - he stopped after the fifth call when one of the other nurses gave him a look which screamed that Callum was radiating desperation and weirdness.

By the time he got home, he had been refreshing his phone and waiting to see an article pop up saying that a victim of the Walford shooting had lost their life in the attack but there was nothing, only a few articles about what had gone down in the usually quiet pub and Hunter who had lost his life. Callum was surprised to learn that Keanu had also been shot in the incident - he had already prepared to see Mick after one of his shifts so he could get all the details about what had happened at the wedding party. Nobody wanted to see him which was understandable considering the events but Whitney had texted him back thanking him and claiming that she would see him at the weekend before she left for her honeymoon. The whole night was spent feeling lonely and scared, constantly on edge about what the next day would bring and if we would end up working with a smile at happy news, or sneaking himself off to the toilets to mourn the death of someone that he didn’t know in the slightest. Callum felt pathetic and he knew that if Jonno could see him, he would think the exact same thing and tell Callum to get a grip.

As he laid in bed that night, he continued to relive the day's incident over and over in his head until he had to force himself to think about something else that was less of a burden on his mind. The sight of all the blood that laid on the bed, the agony in Ben’s eyes as the nurses and doctors tried to examine how deep the wound was. How could something like that happen right on his doorstep?

Callum woke up at around half five the next morning and prepared himself for the shift ahead. His eyes burned from lack of sleep but he put on a brave face and a smile as he flicked on the TV, quickly changing the channel when all that came up was the news. He ended up listening to the classical music channel, at least it managed to calm his nerves a little bit. There was still an anxious feeling in his stomach though as he showered and put on his uniform and he couldn’t even stomach breakfast, the thought of eating when he didn’t know if the young man was lying dead in a morgue sickening him. Callum wasn’t the slightest bit ashamed when he arrived at work half an hour early and began to interrogate everybody on the victim of the shooting.

“Yeah, we received a call at about midnight last night to say that he had been moved to Elizabeth Ward like they had expected,” one of the night staff answered, quickly putting on their coat as they wanted to go home and get some sleep. “Have a good shift, mate!”

Callum did, at least for the first half of the shift. He felt calm knowing that Ben was somewhere alive in the building, probably still out of it because of the amount of strong medication that had been administered due to the ungodly pain. He probably felt horrific if he was awake but that was understandable considering the terrible twenty-four hours he had gone through.

By the time lunch had come around, Callum was desperate for some food and he practically ran down to the cafe area in hopes of a nice jacket potato with one of his good friends, Laura. The two of them had become friends one shift after Callum found Laura outside crying over an elderly patient that had died on her Ward. Callum didn’t even know the woman but he held her tight and let her cry on him. He had always been taught from the very first lecture into his nursing degree that nurses had to stick together and sometimes that meant listening to their emotional problems. It was always good to know that you weren’t the only one suffering when a patient had died.

“Callum Highway,” Laura started as she sat down across from him, placing her lunch on the table. “Would you like to explain something to me?”

Callum raised one eyebrow before nodding. “Sure.”

“Right, explain to me why I have Ben Mitchell ringing his buzzer every five minutes to ask me where you are?” Laura chuckled lowly but quickly covered it up. “And when I say every five minutes, I mean every five minutes. The boy is going to break the system if he doesn’t stop. It took me nearly half an hour to do one bit of paperwork because of his buzzing.” Any other patient and Laura would have been frustrated but there was something annoyingly charming about Ben Mitchell which meant she couldn’t be annoyed at him.

Callum swallowed his food down and shrugged his shoulders, ignoring the way his heart race picked up at the sound of Ben’s name. He had never expected for Ben to know who Callum was, the two of them hadn’t met on the square yet and it’s not as if he was in the right state of mind when he was first rushed into Resus.“I can’t explain that, Laura.”

Laura raised one eyebrow, she wasn’t an idiot and over the year she had known Callum, she had learnt to read him very well and understand when he was backing away from something that was potentially life-changing. “I beg to differ. Go up and see him, make his day a little bit better. The poor bloke just had his family in and that’s enough to make anyone want to do something stupid. I forgot how annoying Phil Mitchell could be.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Callum cursed himself as he spoke, why was he not jumping at the chance to speak to Ben? Admittedly, it did sound a bit stupid considering they didn’t know each other in the slightest bit but there’s nothing wrong with getting to know people. “Anyway, he is still recovering and I don’t want to just go in there and disturb him. If his family are still there as well then I don’t think they would appreciate me just coming in and ruining their visiting time.”

“His family have been and gone,” Laura interrupted, a smirk on her face. “He said that you had pretty eyes.”

“Shut up!” Callum exclaimed, not even attempting to hide the bright red blush that was now on his face. Callum wasn’t full of himself but he wasn’t going to deny the fact that he often got compliments about his eyes. “I might go and see him in a few days or something, I don’t know. It might be too much for him.”

“No, you can go up and see him now,” Laura demanded, although her voice was sweet and kind. She didn’t want to push Callum too much but she knew that this was an opportunity that he couldn’t miss out on. Even if it led to nothing other than a new friendship, it was still a sweet start.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I am scared.”

Laura sighed and placed her hand on top of Callum’s, allowing a small amount of comfort. “There’s nothing to be scared of. Honestly that man is a softy really, got quite a cute smile actually.”

Callum rolled his eyes and moved his hand away from Laura’s, a surge of confidence hitting him. Callum would probably end up regretting going up to the ward but there was nothing wrong with having a little dabble with Ben. Callum could easily wait until Ben left the hospital and returned back to Walford where the two of them could have a chat over a pint of beer like normal friends do but that was too far away and despite his fears, Callum was keen to know more about Ben and find out more about the man he had only heard through stories. It probably should have scared him - he knew that Ben had been sent to prison for the death of Shirley’s best friend, Heather, but there wasn’t an ounce of fear towards the man, only towards what could develop between the two of them if they actually got on pretty well.

Callum had only told people a few months previous that he was gay. It had been a secret that he had kept hidden deep within him in fear of judgement from those that loved him the most and those who were supposed to love but either didn’t or struggled to express it. It was Whitney that had helped him deal with it, her kind words and promises to be there for him whenever he needed it playing in his mind as he sat Mick and Linda down to tell the news. They had been accepting which Callum expected, the two of them not one to judge. It was Stuart that had been the main issue but even he was starting to get his around it and had even got comfortable with making jokes about Callum’s sexuality in a playful way. It was only the previous week when Stuart had agreed to go to The Prince Albert with Callum as long as Rainie could be there with him.

“Elizabeth Ward?”

“Room 14.”

+++

Callum looked at the clock as he walked onto Elizabeth Ward - another half an hour until his break was over and done with. Callum was pretty adamant that nothing was going to come out of this and it would be a simple interaction, Ben possibly thanking Callum for helping him the previous night and then a few questions about Walford. There was no need for Callum to be sending himself into the fit he was.

As he walked down the corridor towards Room 14, he smiled politely at the nurses on the ward. Working in such a big hospital meant that he didn’t know every single person and it was nice to see new faces every now and again. He loved his colleagues on the Resus ward but sometimes Callum wanted something different. He had always enjoyed the thought of working on the dementia ward or paediatrics. Callum wasn’t one for a big chance though.

Standing outside of room 14, Callum waited a few moments before knocking. One of the nurses walked past and raised her eyebrows towards Callum with a knowing smile - Laura must have been talking. He suddenly felt extremely embarrassed, the blush that he seemed to wear permanently back on his face as he entered the room. He kept his back to Ben and pretended to be fiddling with the door handle as he waited for Ben to say something first. He felt like a child.

“Ah, if it isn’t my favourite nurse.”

Callum smiled to himself as he turned around, not shocked at the sight that he saw considering it had become part of his daily life. “Don’t make me blush,” he mumbled even though he already was.

Ben nodded towards the chair besides his bed but Callum declined with the wave of his hand, deciding that staying a distance would be the best option.

Ben tried not to look hurt at Callum not wanting to be with him so he replied with a cheeky comment, hoping it would lighten the suffocating mood. This isn’t what he had expected when he asked Laura to seek Callum out. “Why? Bet you are cute when you do.”

“How are you?” Callum asked, quickly changing the conversation onto something less flirty. He had barely made eye contact with Ben, choosing to look at the medical notes at the end of his bed instead so he could focus on something other than how good Ben looked despite having a breathing tube down his throat only hours earlier. He looked like a completely different man to the one that had been rushed in the previous night.

“Well, I’ve seen better days, haven’t I? It’s not every day though that you attend a wedding and you end up leaving in an ambulance,” Ben joked with a slight laugh, the sound quickly cut off from pain. He hated feeling like this.

Callum finally looked up at him and smiled softly, impressed with the humour that seemed to radiate from the younger boy despite the injuries he had sustained. If Callum was in Ben’s position then he was almost positive that he would be the complete opposite of Ben.

“Why did you want to see me?” Callum finally asked, the silence between the two of them going on for around a minute before Callum couldn’t cope anymore. “I mean, there was plenty of nurses and doctors in your bay last night so why me?”

“Just wanted to see if you were as pretty as you were when I first saw you.”

Ben took the chance to nod towards the chair once again, mentally hoping that Callum would finally get closer to him. He understood that there was something awkward and odd about this but if the two of them worked at it then it would work. Ben, frankly, just needed some company from someone who was handsome, could have a joke and didn’t constantly go on about catheter and the different meals the hospital would be serving.

To Callum’s own surprise, he slowly walked over to Ben’s side of the bed and stood beside him, his legs oddly not allowing him to sit down. For some reason, Callum just wanted to reach over and hold onto Ben’s hands and comfort him. It was his time throughout his nursing career, both in the hospital and army, that was doing this to him. The comforting side never leaving him, he always wanted to do right by people even if they never treated him with the respect that he deserved.

“You were high on drugs when you first saw me.”

“Yeah, I was. Don’t worry, you are just as good now,” Ben smirked at Callum before looking down towards his medical notes that were now laid at the bottom of the bed. He had only been in here one day and it was already sending him crazy, he just wanted to be back at home and waited on by his mother and maybe even Ian if he was lucky enough. Ben often slated his brother for his vindictive ways but Ben was gasping for some decent food, not the pathetic slop they put together here. “How long will I be in here?”

Callum shrugged; he always hated this question. There was no way of giving an exact answer like most people expected, not with injuries like the ones that Ben had. There was still a risk of infection or sepsis and that was one setback that would probably send Ben insane.

“Not sure, maybe a few weeks,” Callum told him, chuckling slightly at the loud groan that Ben released. Callum understood, when he was injured in Afghanistan and had to spend a week in one of the hospitals there, it sent him bonkers. All he wanted to do was go outside and feel the fresh air or have a proper, cold beverage. “Tell me about yourself.”

“I know that you know who I am, Callum,” Ben mumbled, hands moving to play with the thin sheet that covered his body. “I spoke to Sharon earlier and she mentioned that you were one of the nurses that first spoke to them. It’s like we were destined to meet, Callum.”

“Oh, shut up! Purely a coincidence and nothing else,” Callum grumbled with embarrassment before gently digging his finger into Ben’s arm. “Probably would have met anyway, with or without the gun wound.”

Ben gasped dramatically and Callum already knew that the younger boy would have aced drama in school. “Are you telling me that I got shot for no reason?” There was a fake pout on Ben’s face as he continued his dramatic act much to the amusement of Callum who was slowly shaking his head.

“Have you always been a joker?”

“Hmm, kind of. Sarcasm is my defence mechanism, I suppose,” Ben told him. “I came back to Walford a few days ago, I needed a new start, that’s all there really is to me.”

“New start?”

Ben sighed and shook his head; he didn’t want to get into all of his life problems in the middle of the hospital with someone who was practically a stranger. There was a time and a place to reveal all of the fuck ups that Ben had but if his suspicions were right, Callum was already aware of Ben’s past and was ignoring it. “Let’s not get deep on the first date,” Ben said in hopes of changing the subject into something more light-hearted. He reached over and tried to grab Callum’s hand who moved it away, it was nothing cruel, more just in case any of the other doctors or nurses walked in. It would only make rumours start up about something purely innocent and friendly.

“First date?”

“Obviously! I don’t invite every nurse I see into my hospital room.” Ben eyed him up closely and attempted to read the taller man's body language, there was something about him that Ben couldn’t understand but in Ben’s eyes, that just made the conversation a lot more exciting. He always did like a challenge. “You could have brought some chips up from the cafe though, I am starving.”

As the conversation had passed, Callum had found himself entertaining the conversation more than he had hoped. His plan was to make a new friend but it was clear that there was some flirting going on, mostly from Ben’s side but it was a possibility that it was just Ben’s personality that had done that. From what Laura had said, the younger gentleman was a charmer who most likely had a corrupt side to him but Callum was willing to look past all of that.

“Treat me right and maybe next time I will bring some up,” Callum said, his eyes focused on the window at the other side of the room. He didn’t need to look at Ben to know that there was a smirk on his face as he looked up at Callum, the height difference something that Callum found quite endearing.

“Ah, so I’m getting a second date?”

“Who said that this was the first date?”

“I did and, in my defence, you didn’t deny it.” Ben watched as Callum pursed his lips, humour evident not that he would willingly admit it to someone like Ben. “So, what else do you want to know about me then?”

“Have you got a boyfriend?”

Callum himself was shocked at the question that fell from his mouth so effortlessly. In his time since coming out, he had never openly flirted with another man or even thought about the possibility of going on a date with someone of the same gender. It was too much for Callum still but there was something different about Ben and maybe it was the emotions of what happened yesterday but he wanted to make a leap and do something reckless.

“Who said I was gay?” Ben asked, his tone full of faux confusement as he side-eyed Callum who simply raised both eyebrows and stared blankly at him.“Alright then! No, I don’t. Do you?”

“Nope, wouldn’t mind one though.”

For the first time since Callum entered the side room, Ben finally had a set of nerves hit him. It wasn’t because of the idea of being Callum’s boyfriend because that was stupid, it was more fear that they had got their wires crossed. “Flipping hell, are you going to ask me to move in with you soon?” Ben questioned, his tone light as he passed Callum’s comment off as a joke. Maybe he was just reading too much into it. It was the drugs.

“I didn’t mean it like that and you know it. I’m just looking for something,”

“And you want me to be that something?” Ben winked with ease at Callum who looked as if he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

“Ben!”

“I am teasing you.” Ben clenched his jaw before finally grabbing hold of Callum’s hand, this thumb gently running along the skin. Ben was never one to express his emotions in a poetic way, wasn’t really one to express his emotions at all if he was being honest, but he wanted to tell Callum that he was thankful for the work that he did. “In all seriousness though, it was nice having you around yesterday even though it was brief. You kind of helped even though you didn’t really do anything.” Callum tilted his head to the side and gestured towards his uniform with his free hand. “Well yeah, you helped me like that but- “Ben cut himself off with a long sigh, he felt like an idiot. This was the exact reason why he never spoke affectionally to anybody. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Do you need anything else for the pain?” Callum asked, not good himself with emotional chats. He quickly removed his hand from Ben’s and went back down to the folder to double check when Ben last had pain medication. He took a quick glance at Ben who had a blank expression, his mind occupied somewhere else.

“No, I just want to get up and out of this bed.”

“You need to stay in bed. If you start moving about then you could rip your stitches and cause an infection - “

“Aren’t you on your break?”

“Yes.”

“Stop being a nurse then and just be, I don’t know, a friend.”

“Fair enough,” Callum replied with a shrug, awkwardness evident in his stance. “What do friends do in these situations?”

Ben cursed himself for making the conversation awkward. “Fuck knows. How's Whitney?”

“You know her?”

Ben chuckled and shook his head, there was something endearing about the older boy. “I was at her wedding,” Ben said with a dumbfounded face. “ Sharon also mentioned that you and Whitney were friends.”

“Oh, yeah. I think she’s fine but I haven't properly spoken to her yet. I’m going to go and see her on the weekend though.”

“Bet she hates me. I took all the attention away from her on her own wedding day.”

“I’m sure she’s just hoping that you get well soon.”

“Yeah, you’d think…”

Callum ignored the nagging in his mind which told him to question Ben’s relationship with Whitney and instead responded with a smile. He didn’t know how to keep the conversation going and he was thankful when he looked at the clock and saw that there was only ten minutes of his break left.

“Look, I best be going…” Callum started, trailing off when he saw the disappointed look at Ben’s eye.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Lives to save and that,” Ben said. He needed sleep anyway and it’s not as if he wouldn’t see Callum again.

“I’ll come and see you again when I’m next on shift.”

“When’s that?” Ben asked.

“Saturday.”

Ben smiled softly as he shuffled down the bed. “I’ll see you Saturday then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really sorry for how long this has taken me to upload but i have been working non-stop.  
> any feedback is appreciated and welcomed. i do also write one-shots so if you have any requests then please let me know and i will write it for you when i have the time.


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